Putin threatens Ukraine in remarks after former-Soviet states security summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a series of military threats towards Ukraine and reiterated earlier statements that the United States and other European allies now have “direct involvement” in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia during a press conference in the Kazakhstan capital city, Astana.

Putin said his military may use another of its new hypersonic missiles — known as an Oreshnik, or ‘Hazel Tree’ — to target government or official buildings in Kyiv, in response to Ukraine’s continued use of American and British long-range missiles on Russian territory. The hypersonic intermediate range ballistic missile system — that Putin says cannot be intercepted — was first used by Russia last week against a weapons factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Putin’s threats to expand use of these hypersonic missiles in his nightly address.

“Putin wants to escalate the situation now so that President Trump fails to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.

“Putin is the only culprit in this war,” he added. “That’s why Putin’s escalation now is a form of pressure aimed at forcing the president of the United States to accept Russia’s terms.”

Until now, throughout close to three years of conflict, the Russian military has not yet intentionally targeted the president’s office, parliament or ministry buildings in the Ukrainian capital. But speaking after meetings with his Kazakh counterpart and other leaders of several former Soviet nations at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russian president said his senior military commanders was drawing up a list of potential targets in Kyiv that could include “military facilities, defense and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centers.”

The decision by the U.S. and U.K. to permit weapons systems they have been supplied to be used inside Russia prompted the Kremlin’s aggressive response within days, with the Oreshnik’s use on Dnipro described by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “clear and severe escalation” that should be condemned globally.

Putin had also recently announced an update to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, and in Kazakhstan he warned that his country’s ability to produce further advanced missile systems dwarfed that of the NATO alliance. He said authorities in Moscow intend to further accelerate that production.

After reporting earlier this month that some U.S. and European officials were even suggesting that the outgoing Biden administration supply Ukraine with nuclear weapons that it relinquished during soon after the break up of the Soviet Union, Putin said Thursday that this would represent a breach of long-standing American commitments to non-proliferation, and he responded forcefully.

“In this case, we will use all, I want to emphasize this, precisely all means of destruction available to Russia. Everything: we will not allow it,” he said.

Putin complimented President-elect Donald Trump as “intelligent,” and suggested the Biden administration’s recent gloves-off support for Kyiv might either be designed to help Trump appear more reasonable, or to ensure he inherits a more complicated relationship with Moscow. Nonetheless, the Russian leader said he was ready to talk, and he was confident that Trump would “find the solution.”

During the same press conference, Putin added he did not believe Trump is safe following the Butler, Pa. assassination attempt this summer.

He criticized the incoming president’s opponents during the electoral contest, citing what he called, “the absolutely uncivilized methods used to battle against Trump, up to and including an assassination attempt — and more than once” — in reference to what the Secret Service described as a second September attempt on Trump’s life in Florida.

“In my opinion, he is not safe now,” Putin said. “Unfortunately, in the history of the United States various incidents have happened.”